BABSON PARK, Mass. (May 3, 2011) – For the third time in five years, the Mount Holyoke College women's track and field team has earned the NEWMAC Sportsmanship Award. The league office recently announced all of its postseason award winners for the 2011 season. Mount Holyoke also received the Sportsmanship Award in 2007 and 2009.
After leading MIT to its third straight NEWMAC Championship, Halston Taylor was named the league's Coach of the Year. Kelly Curtis of Springfield College was named Field Athlete of the Year, while Jamie Simmons of MIT earned Track Athlete of the Year honors. Maya Rittmanic of Smith College and Ashante Little of Wheaton College split the Rookie of the Year award.
Led by Jacinta Edebeli, Mount Holyoke grabbed eighth place at the NEWMAC Championships on Saturday. The senior took home top honors in the shot put with her toss of 11.42 meters. By doing so, she earned First Team All-Conference honors and contributed 10 points to the Lyons' team total.
Edebeli added to her fine day with a ninth place finish in the javelin (28.37) and a 14th place showing in the 200-meter dash (27.46). She will represent the Lyons at next weekend's NCAA Division III New England Regional Championships in the shot put and heptathlon. The meet is slated to begin on Thursday and run through Saturday at MIT.
With her results on Saturday, Edebeli established a new school record with 3,534 points in the heptathlon. The previous high of 3,458 points was set by Carrie Turban in 1995.
Sophomore Angelica Pascual also enjoyed an outstanding day for Mount Holyoke. In addition to earning one point with her eighth place time of 26.71 in the 200-meter dash, she also joined forces with Kathleen O'Connor, Bianca Routt and Whitney Bailey to secure a pair of points in the 4x100-meter relay. The quartet took seventh place with their time of 54.64. Pascual narrowly missed the finals in the 100-meter dash, finishing in ninth place with a time of 13.17. With her times, she qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships in 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash.
Junior Gizelle Fletcher also made herself eligible for the NCAA Regional Championships with her 12th place time of 27.11 in the 200-meter dash.
2011 NEWMAC Women's Track and Field All-Conference Teams and Award Winners
NEWMAC Track Athlete of the Year:
Jamie Simmons, MIT
NEWMAC Field Athlete of the Year:
Kelly Curtis, Springfield College
NEWMAC Co-Rookies of the Year:
Maya Rittmanic, Smith College
Ashante Little, Wheaton College
NEWMAC Coach of the Year:
Halston Taylor, MIT
NEWMAC Sportsmanship Award:
Mount Holyoke College
Final Team Standings
1. MIT (216.5)
2. Springfield College (154)
3. Wheaton College (103.5)
4. Smith College (77)
5. WPI (77)
6. Wellesley College (68)
7. Coast Guard Academy (47)
8. Mount Holyoke (17)
9. Babson College (15)
| Event |
First Team | Second Team |
| Hammer Throw | Tope Waheed (Wheaton) – 154' 3" | Sylvia Okoye (Wheaton) – 135' 7" |
| Javelin | Kelly Curtis (Springfield) – 131' 1" | Colleen Brague (Springfield) – 130' 6" |
| Long Jump | Kelly Curtis (Springfield) – 17' 1.5" | Ashley Dell'Aira (Wheaton) – 17' 0.75" |
| Pole Vault | Karin Fisher (MIT) – 12' 0.75" | Lauren Kuntz (MIT) – 11' 5.75" |
| Shot Put | Jacinta Edebeli (Mount Holyoke) – 37' 5.75" | Alexa Hunko (Coast Guard) – 36' 7" |
| Discus | Sylvia Okoye (Wheaton (125' 2" | Rebecca Gordon (Smith) – 109' 4" |
| Triple Jump | Ashley Dell'Aira (Wheaton) – 38' 11.75" | Karin Fischer (MIT) – 35' 7.25" |
| High Jump | Julie Eagle (WPI) – 5' 5" | Maya Rttmanic (Smith) – 5' 3" Kelly Curtis (Springfield) – 5' 3" |
| 100-meter dash | Laurie Jenkins (Springfield) – 12.53 | Kyla Wesley (WPI) – 12.66 |
| 200-meter dash | Portia Jones (MIT) – 25.27 | Martha Gross (MIT) – 25.40 |
| 400-meter dash | Jamie Simmons (MIT) – 57.65 | Noelle Richard (WPI) – 58.37 |
| 800-meter dash | Leah Clement (Wellesley) – 2:17.52 | Lacey Chartier (Springfield) – 2:18.17 |
| 1,500-meter run | Anna Holt-Gosselin (MIT) – 4:41.54 | Cristina Lucas (Wellesley) – 4:45.61 |
| 3,000-meter steeplechase | Leah Clement (Wellesley) – 10:49.85 | Martina de Geus (MIT) – 11:17.23 |
| 5,000-meter run | Camille Basturto (Wellesley) – 18:08.27 | Tania Morimoto (MIT) – 18:21.41 |
| 100-meter hurdles | Didi Jusme (Wheaton) – 14.18 | Amy Magnuson (MIT) – 14.59 |
| 4x100-meter relay | Jacqueline Brew, Martha Gross, Jamie Simmons, Portia Jones (MIT) – 42.28 |
Didi Jusme, Laurenmaria Smith, Amanda Claflin, Lauren Cardarelli (Wheaton) – 48.36 |
| 4x400-meter relay | Kathryn Schmann, Jenn Kapinos, Kelly Murphy, Gabriella Gaudreault (Springfield) – 4:01.93 |
Caroline Allen, Michelangela Yusif, Jill Perreira, Noelle Richard (WPI) – 4:07.83 |
| 400-meter hurdles | Jamie Simmons (MIT) - 1:03.22 | Ashante Little (Wheaton) – 1:03.46 |
| 10,000-meter run | Sarah Sprague (MIT) – 41:19.78 | Katie Burns (Springfield) – 41:57.26 |
